Lodgers tax fund request pile up

Ruidoso's Police Department, Parks and Recreation Department, the Ruidoso Convention Center, Billy the Kid Visitors Center, and the Ruidoso Visitor Center are among entities that are funding beneficiaries of Ruidoso's lodgers tax. Now the village's Solid Waste Department wants in on the action.

"It's reached the point where we are requesting $12,000 from you all," Jeff Kaplan, the village's director of general services told the Ruidoso Lodgers Tax Committee. "The impact was certainly significant over the past Christmas and New Year's holidays. We're averaging approximately eight tons (of trash) those days that I've listed on your memo. That comes to $40 a ton. We have to go to the landfill 75 miles away."

Kaplan noted there are 24 days annually where major events and holiday periods occur and the trash collecting department is asked to relieve overfilled dumpsters at an additional expense of about $500 each day. Among the times that bring the need for extra collection are spring break, the two motorcycle rallies, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

"We get a call that says 'Come and relieve your dumpster.' And we're obviously going to do it. We're not going to let that trash go all over the place."

A part of the issue with residential dumpsters filling up when Ruidoso is full of people is short-term rentals that create volumes of waste, Kaplan said.

"They're only paying for residential dumpster service," Kaplan said.

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"They don't have a commercial dumpster. And what you have is the residents around those going berserk because their dumpster is filled up the day after pickup and they only get picked up once a week."

Kaplan said there currently is not a way to cover the collection and disposal costs of overflowing residential dumpsters because of homes rented to vacationers and visitors.

Ruidoso Tourism Director Gina Kelley asked if it might be possible to charge vacation rental homes the commercial rates, but Kaplan said not all short-term rental homes are known.

Kaplan said the Solid Waste Department is an enterprise fund, with a goal of being self-sustaining without tapping into the village's general fund.

"If he was a normal businessman, he would have gone bankrupt a long time ago," Ruidoso Finance Director Nancy Klingman said, noting some assistance has been delivered from the village's general fund.

"At some point we have to deal with the real world," Klingman said. "So, until we can get there, we're asking. We're trying to utilize every resource we can to keep going, until we can fix the problem."

New Mexico's lodgers tax can, in part, be used for police, fire protection and sanitation services related to tourist-related events.

Other requests

The police department is seeking for $50,000 during the fiscal year that will begin on July 1 to help with overtime costs for tourist events such as two motorcycle rallies and the Aspenfest Parade. That funding has been in place for several years.

Parks and Recreation received $50,000 in lodgers tax money this fiscal year. The department's Ellen Bizzell said a bit more than $30,000 was needed for Parks and Rec to finish out this year in the black. For the 2013-14 fiscal year the department would like $150,000. Based on an established 4 percent of lodgers tax revenue, $50,000 or better would go to maintenance items in the department's budget. Another $100,000 request would allow the department's park improvements list to go forward.

The Billy the Kid Visitor Center requested $58,135 to help operate the facility.

The Ruidoso Visitor Center at the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce location received $115,000 last year, an amount the chamber's Executive Director Becky Brooks said would work for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Ruidoso Convention Center asked for the minimum amount in a marketing contract with The Lodge at Sierra Blanca, $80,000. For the convention center itself, $50,000 was requested to replace 500 banquet chairs.

General fund impact

Klingman asked the Lodgers Tax Committee to again be generous this coming budget in assisting various village departments.

"Really the help has been enormous on the general fund," Klingman said. "The general fund subsidizes like the airport, convention center, we've got another cemetery that we are going to be subsidizing. We have trails, the Riverwalk Trail and the Grindstone Trail. The general fund has taken on maintenance of that. Every year we try to give our citizens and our tourists more to bring them here."

The Lodgers Tax Committee will review those and other budget requests on March 14. Three days before that, special event organizers will make their pitches for promotional assistance.

By state law, at least one-half of lodgers tax revenues must be used for advertising, publicizing and promoting tourist-related attractions, facilities and events.

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